#crowtober2023

[melspontaneus]

Crowtober day 2 - Fall

[purpleyin]

Grishaverse moodboards: Wesper (Wylan van Eck/Jesper Fahey) - anniversary

New Wesper moodboard for @crowtoberchallenge 2023 Day 1: stroopwaffles. I thought doing it anniversary themed would be fun, except they can't agree on the date considering their (show) history with a bit of a false start! But having 2 anniversaries is clearly the best option ❤️

[cristalbeesnow]

day 4: sugar. some say that "sugar is like poison". matthias, when he is in prison and thinks about Nina, sees her as a bewitching witch who only made fun of him... he hates her but a part of him continues to desire her despite everything... for him she is a temptation like sugar but at the same time it is the worst of poisons. yes, I like metaphors. and yes, I will use them often.

[ruins-and-rewritez]

DAY 8: KNIFE WIFE: Kanej

Sometimes it's hard to know whether the skills that you've adapted to survive are something to be proud of or not. If they've allowed you to keep going shouldn't they be seen as a badge of honor rather than a mark of shame.

Inej often walks that delicate balance between the two never able to decide which side to fall to if she'd ever lost her footing. The choice will be made later, after she's had enough time to make a proper decision, but for now she lets her newfound skills shine.

Her family can't seem to believe that these abilities she's gained with a knife are real and not some sort of trick. As performers they all know quite well that seeing and believing are two very different things.

Inej hits the target, marked on the trunk of a tree, again and again. One blade after another, slice into the bullseye, until the bark in the center has all been chipped away, and her collection falls to the ground with a clang.

Her parents, cousins, the whole family, take a collective pause before bursting into applause. Her uncle (a former knife thrower) gives her a pat on the back for her dexterity. Her cousin Miri asks with bright eyes if she can teach her how to do that (at 8 years old Inej is inclined to say no).

Everyone appears to take this new talent of hers in stride not questioning the reasons behind it or where it was learned and refined. The adults not wanting to turn the conversation to something unpleasant and untouchable, and the children only knowing the Inej was 'away' and not the circumstances that led to her being gone for so long.

Inej knows that the story is probably something they'd want to know, they don't refrain from letting her talk about her trauma but they don't ask either (save simple 'how are you' interactions). Inej can't blame them, she doesn't, they're there when she needs them but they still don't try to force it, it's something she has grown to appreciate, especially on the rarer growing bad days.

They might not ask for the story, but she can't help but watch it replay in her mind with every throw.

Kaz's dark attic room, an over cast sky, training dummies on the far end, bright splotches of red where their hearts would be.

"If you're going to make yourself useful to me, you need to be able to protect yourself when the time comes."

When he first pressed the handle into her palm she flinched, steeled herself, and tried to focus.

"Think as though its and extension of yourself."

Inej grips it better, making it comfortable in her hold, he doesn't correct her, so it must be sufficent.

"Put the weight behind it when you release."

He circles behind her to correct her stance, fear rises in her throat, being unable to see him, but she's the one holding the knife, and that helps.

"Bend your wrist. Like this."

He stands besides her, curling his own small blade toward his arm. She doesn't know whether him not touching her is for Inej or himself, but a small part of her is grateful.

"Dominant leg first."

She follows.

"Sight the target. Breath in. Pull back. Throw. Out."

She watches his every move filing it away, catalouging it, memorizing. It hits the target, a little right of the center.

"Now you."

His instructions are meager, straight to the point, and somehow, all she needs. She visualizes and follows through. She hits the target almost dead on.

Kaz seems relieved at this, or maybe angry, she can't read his expressions, not yet anyway. But the practice continues, and for the most of it she is near perfect. A natural.

He eyes her as their session ends, calculating something in those cold eyes of his.

"No doubt you'll be deadly with a knife. Wraith."

And no doubt, she is.

[thehanwen]

Crowtober 2023

Me and @i-love-semicolons are doing a collab fic series for the month of October based on @crowtoberchallenge 's prompts!

The first was just posted- prompt stroopwaffles! Go check it out and come back daily for more short crows fics!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[melspontaneus]

i just wanted to draw stroopwafels for the first day of crowtober

[cristalbeesnow]

day 6: heart. I immediately thought of a work on Nina and Matthias but I decided to put them in another theme (which one? Surprise) therefore, remembering Shu Han's part of the TV series (controversial for me as it is really strange and very far from the original works but nevertheless full of interesting ideas) I decided to use the heart theme referring to the beautiful declaration on love made by the saint of Shu Han. they are wonderful words, the synthesis of love and the looks between kaz and inej and everything they feel for each other and the thousand unspoken words between them that are simply expressed in their looks deserve the scene. After all, love starts from the heart...

[cristalbeesnow]

day 3: poetry. I've always thought that when Kaz responds to Tolya by quoting his favorite poem, it's something related to Jordie (you can also see it in his sad face). We don't see much in the show, but in the book it is said several times that Kaz loves mathematics and magic tricks, while Jordie loves reading. Jordie probably read some pieces of the work to Kaz and it's a memory linked to him. furthermore, tolya replies to kaz that he is happy to find someone who loves life... but kaz has never particularly been one to savor life even as a child, unlike jordie who, being similar to jesper, is a person who he enjoyed it to the fullest. ok it's sad... but that's how I interpreted it..